He's a Keeper
by SasuNarufan13
Summary: They're meeting Naruto's new boyfriend tonight and they can only hope this one is better than all his previous partners. That's not too much to ask, right? Minato's pov; AU; slash; more warnings inside


**Author's note: Just something I whipped up in a few hours. Hope it isn't too bad!**

**Warnings: Minato's pov; alternate universe; past domestic abuse; talk about bad relationships; fluff; slash; reference past violence**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.**

**I hope you'll like it!**

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**He's a Keeper**

"I don't know how to feel about tonight, Kushina," Minato muttered, staring at the cucumber he was cutting into smaller pieces for the salad.

His wife clucked her tongue and focused on the pieces of meat she was placing carefully in the hot pan. "It's just meeting his new boyfriend, Minato, what can go wrong?"

"Considering his past relationships? A lot," he said darkly.

He loved his son, but his taste in partners so far had been rather questionable to downright awful at times.

"Remember that Haruno girl?"

Kushina glared down at the pan. "How could I forget about that bitch? She broke my baby's heart so thoroughly it took us months to get him to smile again."

Haruno Sakura had been the first girl Naruto had really liked. After nursing a crush for almost two years, he'd found the courage to ask her out when they'd both been fifteen. He had proudly introduced her to them after two months of dating and at first he and Kushina had approved of the girl. She'd been sweet, pretty and smart and had had a calming influence on their son to the point he hadn't landed into any trouble the entire time they had been together.

One year and a half after they had started dating, their son had arrived home in tears after catching his girlfriend cheating on him with some guy she'd met at an art show. She hadn't even looked ashamed when he'd caught them; she'd simply told him she'd grown bored of him and that he'd been only good enough to pass the time with until she found someone better. _Someone better looking, someone hotter._

Naruto, who had struggled for years with his self-confidence after he'd became scarred in the face due to an accident, had taken the break up hard, especially the flippant way she'd just dismissed him. Minato and Kushina had spent years building up his self-esteem and one callous girl had undone all their work in just one afternoon.

It had taken them months just to get their son to smile that brilliant smile of his again and even longer to build up his confidence again.

"Should have let Gaara-kun have a go at her after all," Kushina muttered, turning around to check on the rice.

"Yeah, wish I hadn't held him back," Minato sighed, shoving the cucumber pieces into the salad bowl with the knife. "At least Haku didn't cheat on him."

Haku had been the first guy Naruto had dated. He had met him a couple of months before he had turned eighteen, bumping into each other at the florist. They had started talking and one thing led to another; they started dating two months after they met. That relationship lasted for a good ten months and had ended when Haku had fallen in love with someone else.

Minato was glad Haku had been honest about his feelings and had broken up with his son before he went chasing after someone else, but the end result still sucked: his son dumped for the second time.

Being dumped for someone else for the second time in a row hadn't done wonders for Naruto's self-esteem either, though he'd got over Haku quicker than he had over Haruno.

"Do we know for sure this guy is out of the closet? Because I don't want a repeat of that Hyuuga guy," he demanded, starting on cutting the cherry tomatoes in two.

Hyuuga Neji came from an old family and that had definitely shown itself. When he and Naruto had started dating, Hyuuga hadn't been out of the closet, so all their dates had occurred in secret. Eventually Naruto had grown tired of the secrecy – Minato couldn't blame him for that – and had had several rows with Hyuuga about it before Hyuuga had made it clear that he wouldn't come out of the closet for a long time, if ever; too nervous what his family would do.

Naruto, who'd always been very open about how he felt and was a very affectionate person who didn't mind showing people he loved them, hadn't been able to deal with that and they'd broken up after seven months.

On the one hand, Minato had felt a bit of sympathy for the Hyuuga guy; it couldn't be easy being afraid to come out to your family, nervous what they would think. On the other hand, he didn't want his son to be some kind of secret either. Naruto deserved someone who wanted to be with him completely, who was proud to be his partner.

Hyuuga hadn't been that guy.

"No, he's out of the closet. Deidara-kun knows him, remember?" Kushina reminded him, flipping the meat. "This guy has been out of the closet for years now, so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Thank god for that," he muttered and frowned when another concern popped up. "Please tell me this guy doesn't have any sort of criminal record."

After Hyuuga, Naruto had dated a girl, Tayuya, for a little while. That had been his shortest relationship until date, because only a week after he had introduced her to his parents, they had caught her trying to steal Kushina's jewellery, including the bracelet she'd inherited from her great-grandmother. Turned out the girl had been arrested several times for shoplifting and theft in general.

Naturally, that relationship hadn't lasted long at all. Exit Tayuya.

"No, I checked," she reassured him. "Apart from one speeding ticket, he's clean."

He could live with a speeding ticket. That wasn't too bad compared to theft. "And he's not planning on moving to the other side of the country soon?"

An ex-boyfriend of Naruto had ended up doing that. It had been a real shame, because Minato had actually really liked the guy. Yahiko had been a funny and charming guy, a breath of fresh air compared to Naruto's previous partners. His work as a police officer, however, saw him transferred to a district on the other end of the country.

He and Naruto had attempted a long distance relationship at first, but with Naruto having a life here and Yahiko not knowing when his time at his new district would end, if ever, they had eventually decided to break it off. The mutual break up had been easier on Naruto, though it had still left him slightly shaken, especially because he had been hoping that he and Yahiko might have been it for each other.

Maybe it could have worked out if Yahiko hadn't had to move so far away. Minato didn't hate the guy for it. He couldn't help it that his superiors had decided to send him away and he had treated Naruto with the respect and love he deserved the entire time they had been together.

Still, even though he didn't blame Yahiko, he didn't want his son's heart broken again when this guy ended up leaving too.

"As far as I know, no," Kushina hummed, sweeping her long braid back over her shoulder. "He works in the next town over at his family's company, so that's not too bad."

"Well, that's something at least," Minato muttered, dumping the cherry tomatoes into the bowl. "If he turns out to be anything like that Yakushi bastard, though, he won't have the chance to even go to the hospital this time."

Yakushi Kabuto had creeped him out the second the guy had set foot inside their home. There had been something about his smarmy way of talking, of the way he smiled and kept touching Naruto that had set Minato on edge and had sent shivers of revulsion down his spine. He hadn't been able to put his finger on what exactly disturbed him about the guy, though, and so he had said nothing, because Naruto had seemed happy and seeing his son happy was all that mattered.

Three months later, Naruto started showing up with more and more bruises and while at first he'd laughed it off, claiming he'd been more clumsy than usual, he'd broken down eventually and had told them the truth.

About how Yakushi had started to push him around, slamming him against doors and walls whenever he got pissed home from work. How he would snarl and twist Naruto's arms, pinching and bruising him whenever Naruto dared to fight back. How he'd been so furious one evening, he'd grabbed a knife and had threatened to give Naruto more scars if he didn't keep his mouth shut.

Hearing all that, watching his son curled up so small on the couch, trembling in his mother's embrace, looking so defeated and broken, had made something snap in Minato. That had been the first time he'd actually seriously contemplated killing someone.

Once Naruto had fallen asleep, they had called Gaara to have him keep an eye on their son, trusting him to protect their only child, and had gone over to Naruto's apartment to confront that piece of shit who'd made their son's life a living hell.

They hadn't killed him – more's the pity – but they had ended up giving him a taste of his own medicine, promising him there were still worse things they could do to him if they ever saw him near Naruto again.

Yakushi had ended up driving to the local hospital with the help of one of his friends and had had quite the misfortune to have Tsunade as his attending doctor. She'd recognised him and had been puzzled how he'd ended up in that state. The fucker had tried to claim Minato and Kushina had attacked him without any reason, but unfortunately for him, Tsunade was Minato's aunt and it had only taken her one call to find out the truth.

To this day, she still wouldn't tell them what she had done or said, but they never saw or heard of that son of a bitch again after that night.

Yakushi should have counted himself lucky that Naruto's godfather hadn't been in town that night. Jiraiya definitely wouldn't have held himself back. You touched his godson in the wrong way, you paid the price.

"Oh, don't worry," Kushina smiled sweetly; her purple eyes glinting dangerously. "If he turns out to be anything like that sorry piece of shit, I've got a list of places marked where nobody will ever find him."

"God, I love you," Minato sighed and leant over to kiss her. "Have I told you how amazing you are?"

"This morning," she smiled playfully, pecking his lips again. "But it's always nice to hear I'm appreciated."

"Oh, I very much appreciate you," he murmured, nuzzling her neck.

She laughed and he smiled, the bright sound lifting up his spirits. She swatted him away after stealing another kiss. "Go on, you, stop distracting me. I don't want to burn the food and ruin his first impression of us!"

He returned to the cutting board and sighed softly. "You think everything will be fine?"

This time she was the one who abandoned her spot and came over to hug him from behind. "I know some of his choices have been questionable, but from the sounds of it, his new boyfriend seems like a good guy. Deidara-kun's dating this guy's older brother and has nothing but praises for him and even Gaara-kun likes him! And you know how hard it is to get Gaara-kun's approval."

That was true. Naruto and Gaara had been best friends ever since they met at the tender age of seven. The red haired man had been there through all the ups and downs, offering his shoulder to cry on after every nasty break up. He also had an uncanny ability to read people and so far only Yahiko had received his seal of approval.

Impressing Naruto's best friend might actually be harder to do than impressing his parents.

So if Gaara approved of this new boyfriend … Then he couldn't be that bad.

"I still think it'd be easier if he starts dating Gaara-kun," he sniffed, untangling himself gently from his wife's embrace to go to the fridge and select a salad dressing. "I like him. He's smart, a hard worker, not bad on the eyes and we know he'd never hurt our son."

"And we also know those two won't ever be more than best friends," she said amused, hurrying back to the pan before the meat could burn. "Look, I know you're worried, I am too, but let's just wait and see what tonight will bring, okay? If both Deidara-kun and Gaara-kun are okay with this guy, he can't be that bad."

He hoped so, because he wanted to see his son happy. He didn't want to see his heart get broken time and time again, because the other person had no idea what kind of treasure they had.

"Fine, I'll give him a chance," he muttered, dumping dressing on the salad. "If he even puts one toe over the line, I'm going to make him regret it, though."

"And I'll be right there with you to help you if that happens."

It was nice to know he and his wife were still on the same wavelength after all these years.

* * *

"Good evening, Namikaze-san, Uzumaki-san. My name is Uchiha Sasuke and it's a pleasure to meet you." The man in front of them bowed while next to him Naruto was fidgeting, casting nervous looks between his boyfriend and his parents.

Minato had to admit that at least in the looks department, Uchiha Sasuke definitely towered above all the rest. His black hair had a faint bluish shine to it and his bangs framed his aristocratic face gently. His hair was spiked up in the back and while that would look ridiculous on anyone else, this hairstyle actually suited him really well. He had a sharp, straight nose; full, pale pink lips and intense, black eyes. He stood around an inch taller than Naruto and his lean built was wrapped up in a smart, dark grey, fitted suit.

While Minato had no inclination towards men, even he had to admit that his son's new boyfriend was definitely a looker, handsome enough to be mistaken for a model. He was willing to bet he'd been a very popular guy at school.

"Good evening, Sasuke-san. I'm Kushina. It's great to meet you, our son has told us so much about you," Kushina smiled, her eyes glittering mischievously when Naruto groaned an embarrassed, "Mum!"

"I'm Minato. It's nice to meet you," Minato smiled, reminding himself to be friendly. So far the guy wasn't setting off any of his alarm bells; he deserved a fair chance to prove himself.

"Why don't we go to the kitchen? Dinner's ready," Kushina suggested, still smiling.

Minato followed her, but from the corner of his eye, he saw Uchiha grabbed Naruto's hand gently and talking to him too quiet for him to hear. Whatever he said, it was enough to visibly calm Naruto down.

Huh. Well, he supposed that was another point in his favour. Calming Naruto down wasn't easy; even he and Kushina still had trouble at times and they as his parents had more experience with it.

"This looks delicious, Uzumaki-san," Uchiha complimented her when they had all sat down and their plates had been filled.

Her grin widened and she looked pleased. "Thank you, Sasuke-san. Please call me Kushina; this is supposed to be a relaxing evening after all." She winked.

"So Sasuke-san, how did you meet Naruto? Our son's been rather vague about that," Minato remarked and gave Naruto a pointed looked.

Naruto just huffed and looked away, but everyone could see him turning red. "Because it's embarrassing, okay!"

"For whom? For me or for you?" Uchiha asked amused before turning to address them, "We met in a Starbucks. I'd just paid for my coffee when I turned around and Naruto walked straight into me. My coffee got spilt all over my suit. It was a nightmare to get the stains out of that one."

"I already apologised multiple times for that," Naruto pouted, prodding his meat. "It wasn't my fault I tripped over a bag on the floor!"

Uchiha shook his head with a faint smile. "You should have seen him; he kept apologising over and over again, offering to pay for the dry cleaning."

"Then Sasuke told me how much his suit cost and I offered to buy him a new coffee instead because that was a lot cheaper," Naruto added sheepishly.

"I accepted and from then on we just kept walking into each other," Uchiha said and shrugged. "We started talking and well, as you can see, we started dating eventually." He cleared his throat, his cheeks growing a tad pink for some reason.

Naruto grinned gleefully and poked Uchiha's cheek, not even batting an eyelid when Uchiha swatted his hand away with a scowl. "He was so nervous when he asked me out, ma! Deidara had to literally push him in front of me, because he completely froze up!" He cackled, throwing his head back. "Deidara threatened to do it in his place if he didn't get a move on and he would make sure it would be especially embarrassing for Sasuke if he had to do it."

"That guy's a pure menace, I have no idea what my brother sees in him," Uchiha muttered, glaring down at his plate.

"Aw, don't be like that," Naruto cooed and kissed his cheek. "He just wanted to help. And hey, it worked, didn't it?"

"True," Uchiha agreed and the smile he gave Naruto was so soft, Minato had to look away because it felt too private.

"So, Sasuke-san, what do you do for work?" Kushina asked curiously; a smile of her own playing around her mouth.

"I work as the head of the financial department in my brother's company," Uchiha replied and from there on, conversation flowed smoothly, filled with curious questions and laughter at funny memories.

* * *

By the time dessert had finished and Naruto had started doing the dishes together with Uchiha, Minato had to admit that he had a good feeling about this guy.

This was of course only the first time they had met, but after witnessing how at ease Naruto was around him, how affectionate they were with each other without being over the top; the way Uchiha would give their son these soft smiles even when Naruto wasn't looking; how their bodies kept orienting towards each other without them even being consciously aware of it; how Naruto's eyes shone and shimmered whenever they looked at the dark haired man …

That spoke volumes.

"So, what do you think?" Kushina asked softly, pulling him down next to her on the couch.

"He seems like a good guy," he murmured, turning his head to look at the two men in the kitchen.

Naruto was trying to smear bubbles over Uchiha's face, who just ducked before catching Naruto's mouth in a short kiss, making their son laugh and Uchiha softly chuckle.

"Yeah, I've got a really good feeling about him," Kushina hummed and curled up against his side. "I think he's a keeper, Minato. For real this time."

"Yeah," he watched Naruto lie his head against Uchiha's shoulder and the other man wrap his arm around him, dropping a kiss against his forehead, "I think so too."

As long as Naruto was happy, he was happy and it looked like Uchiha was making him very happy.

He was a keeper for sure.

The best choice Naruto had ever made if you asked him.

**The End**

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**AN2: Not something overly complicated, but it doesn't always have to be like that, right? *shifty eyes***

**I hope you liked it! Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!**

**I hope to see you all back in my future stories!**

**Cuddles**

**Melissa**

**P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.**


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